On receiving an email inviting me a chance to cook with Jo Pratt, I jumped at the chance. Have got both her books In the Mood for Food and In the Mood for Entertaining and cook from them at least once a week. She makes recipes easy (hubby can even manage them!) and puts them into easy sections to choose from, perfect for the entertaining queen, whether it’s a romantic breakfast for two or cooking for a lads night in.

Anyway back to meeting Jo! I managed to find the venue Food at 52 Cooking School, arriving hot and sweaty and wondering what I was letting myself in for. The evening completely exceeded all my expectations from start to finish. The event was run by Wildcard, on behalf of Tilda to promote their new range of easy to use Stir Fry Rice range. After thirst quenching drinks, much needed on a very hot day and canapes, along with some mingling with fellow bloggers, we were given a presentation about Tilda rice. This was informative but I found my attention being drawn to the fabulous house we were in, there were so many interesting things to look at. If you ever get the chance to go and do a course at Food at 52, go for it, if only to explore the house that looks like it should be featured in a glossy interiors magazine!

We were then introduced to Jo, who then demonstrated different ways with the Stir Fry Rice range; a prawn soup that was very virtuous, a lamb dish which my fellow cooking companion devoured and some duck pancakes that had been made more substanial using the rice as extra filling. Then we were let loose in the kitchen, armed with a wok, a burner, Stir Fry Rice and a plethora of raw ingredients. My fellow cooking companion admitted to not being a cook so we chose the ingredients together, making our own Prawn and Pepper Peking Rice. We then enjoyed this alfresco in the gorgeous courtyard.

The night came to an end with the arrival of my taxi and so I went all gushing and asked Jo to sign my cookery books; she was very friendly and approachable and that just made me admire her even more!

The goody bag came with some samples of the rice which came in handy the other night when I couldn’t be bothered to cook and this is when they come into their own. A quick and tasty meal that took less than 5 mins to cook and just needed the addition of some prawns, chicken and vegetables. I would definitely keep some in the cupboard for those can’t be bothered nights.